With it being seven years since his last live-action film, 2014’s The Grand Budapast Hotel, Wes Anderson is hard at work. Following a Cannes premiere, The French Dispatch finally arrives in limited theaters on October 22 followed by a wide release the following week, and he’s already shooting his next film (recently revealed to have the title Asteroid City) outside of Madrid with Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Adrien Brody, Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Rupert Friend, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Bryan Cranston, Hope Davis, Jeffrey Wright, Liev Schreiber, Tony Revolori, and Matt Dillon.

As is the case with all of his work, Wes Anderson synthesizes cinema history in his own specific language and for The French Dispatch he has provided a list of influences. As revealed in a promotional book sent to The Flim Stage and styled after the film’s magazine, 32 films are listed that “provided inspiration to the filmmakers, cast, and crew, in no particular order.”

From fairly obvious inclusions like the work of Jacques Tati (in which Anderson directly nods to the innards of an apartment) to Jean-Luc Godard’s La Chinoise and the spirit of young revolutionaries, there’s also a number of works by Jacques Becker, including Touchez pas au grisbi (a crime masterpiece that Martin Scorsese drew inspiration from for The Irishman), and Henri-Georges Clouzot. While the list is understandably Gallic-heavy, there are also entries by Alfred Hitchcock, Billy Wilder, Howard Hawks, and one of Francis Ford Coppola’s most overlooked films.

Check out the list below.

  • The Gold of Naples (Vittorio De Sica)
  • Boudu Saved from Drowning (Jean Renoir)
  • The Lower Depths (Jean Renoir)
  • They Made Me a Fugitive (Alberto Cavalcanti)
  • City Streets (Rouben Mamoulian)
  • Shoot the Piano Player (François Truffaut)
  • White Nights (Luchino Visconti)
  • Life Dances On (Julien Duvivier)
  • David Golder (Julien Duvivier)
  • Touchez pas au grisbi (Jacques Becker)
  • La Chinoise (Jean-Luc Godard)
  • Quai des Orfèvres (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
  • The Man Who Knew Too Much (Alfred Hitchcock)
  • Le Trou (Jacques Becker)
  • Masculin féminin (Jean-Luc Godard)
  • Mon oncle (Jacques Tati)
  • Playtime (Jacques Tati)
  • Sweet Smell of Success (Alexander Mackendrick)
  • Casque d’Or (Jacques Becker)
  • His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks)
  • The Murderer Lives at Number 21 (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
  • La Vérité (Henri-Georges Clouzot)
  • The Fire Within (Louis Malle)
  • Love Me Tonight (Rouben Mamoulian)
  • Painters Painting (Emile de Antonio)
  • Rules of the Game (Jean Renoir)
  • The 400 Blows (François Truffaut)
  • The Tenant (Roman Polanski)
  • Vivre sa vie (Jean-Luc Godard)
  • Irma la Douce (Billy Wilder)
  • One From the Heart (Francis Ford Coppola)
  • The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse)

Happy watching, and as we await the film’s release, check out a conversation with Wes Anderson and cast from the 59th New York Film Festival below.

The French Dispatch hits theaters on October 22 and opens wide on October 29.

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